Quality Assessments of Various Digital Image Fusion Techniques

Image Fusion is a process of combining the relevant information from a set of images into a single image, where the resultant fused image will be more informative and complete than any of the input images. The goal of image fusion (IF) is to integrate complementary multisensory, multitemporal and/or multiview information into one new image containing information the quality of which cannot be achieved otherwise. It has been found that the standard fusion methods perform well spatially but usually introduce spectral distortion, Image fusion techniques can improve the quality and increase the application of these data. In this Project we use various image fusion techniques using discrete wavelet transform and discrete cosine transform and it is proposed to analyze the fused image, after that by using various quality assessment factors it is proposed to analyze subject images and draw a conclusion that from which transformation technique we can find the better results. In this project several applications and comparisons between different fusion schemes and rules are addressed

Novel DWT-DAPSK based transceivers for DVB-T transmission and next generation mobile networks

Digital wireless communication has become one of the most exciting research topics in the electronic engineering field due to the explosive demands for high-speed wireless services, such as cellular video conferencing. The second generation Terrestrial Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB- T2) has been demonstrated to provide digital communication services with very high spectral efficiency and significantly improved performance. Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) systems have been increasingly deployed in mobile networks for their spectral efficiency and optimum bit error rate. An OFDM system is a multi-carrier system which transmits signals from a single source at different frequencies simultaneously as parallel components. A distinguishing feature of the OFDM system is its ability to preserve high bandwidth efficiency in high speed data streams. Among the different types of OFDM systems, wavelet based systems have been demonstrated to have much better bandwidth and channel performance compared to the Discrete Fourier transform (DFT) and Discrete Cosine Transform (DCT) based systems. The DFT and DCT systems suffer from several disadvantages including less bandwidth efficiency due 'to the need for guard interval and highly complex system design. Discrete Wavelet transform (DWT) based OFDM systems naturally overcome these disadvantages by their design methodology and the technique of transmitting concentrated energy over small spectral coefficients. Several types of modulation schemes such as DPSK, QAM are employed in OFDM systems, which introduce certain penalties such as increased bandwidth and complexity of the system design. So a multilevel differential modulation technique namely Differential Amplitude and Phase Shift Keying (64 DAPSK) has been proposed as an alternative solution. DAPSK-OFDM is very suitable for high date-rate digital mobile radio channel with additive white Gaussian noise (A WGN). In this research work it has been f demonstrated that a combination of DWT -OFDM with DAPSK modulation can be employed to achieve very low peak-to-average power ratio (PAPR), improved bit error ratio (BER), and much reduced inter symbol interference (ISI) & inter-carrier interference (IeI) in wireless mobile network applications. A mathematical model has been proposed for the DWT-OFDM system with DAPSK modulation scheme in this work. The system performance has been evaluated via simulation using Matlab Simulink package and also verified using Matlab programming. This proposed DWT-OFDM with 64DAPSK hybrid system is demonstrated to have better BER (by an order of magnitude for an SNR of 25dB) performance and improved P APR (by 7.2dB) and interference values. It is also demonstrated that including companding with this system results in further reduction of PAPR. Finally, the simulation results also demonstrate that DWT-DAPSK scheme can be successfully employed in DVTB-T2 systems due to its very high spectral efficiency, much improved BER and significantly reduced PAPR performance

Multichannel analysis of normal and continuous adventitious respiratory sounds for the assessment of pulmonary function in respiratory diseases

Premi extraordinari doctorat UPC curs 2015-2016, àmbit d’Enginyeria IndustrialRespiratory sounds (RS) are produced by turbulent airflows through the airways and are inhomogeneously transmitted through different media to the chest surface, where they can be recorded in a non-invasive way. Due to their mechanical nature and airflow dependence, RS are affected by respiratory diseases that alter the mechanical properties of the respiratory system. Therefore, RS provide useful clinical information about the respiratory system structure and functioning. Recent advances in sensors and signal processing techniques have made RS analysis a more objective and sensitive tool for measuring pulmonary function. However, RS analysis is still rarely used in clinical practice. Lack of a standard methodology for recording and processing RS has led to several different approaches to RS analysis, with some methodological issues that could limit the potential of RS analysis in clinical practice (i.e., measurements with a low number of sensors, no controlled airflows, constant airflows, or forced expiratory manoeuvres, the lack of a co-analysis of different types of RS, or the use of inaccurate techniques for processing RS signals). In this thesis, we propose a novel integrated approach to RS analysis that includes a multichannel recording of RS using a maximum of five microphones placed over the trachea and the chest surface, which allows RS to be analysed at the most commonly reported lung regions, without requiring a large number of sensors. Our approach also includes a progressive respiratory manoeuvres with variable airflow, which allows RS to be analysed depending on airflow. Dual RS analyses of both normal RS and continuous adventitious sounds (CAS) are also proposed. Normal RS are analysed through the RS intensity–airflow curves, whereas CAS are analysed through a customised Hilbert spectrum (HS), adapted to RS signal characteristics. The proposed HS represents a step forward in the analysis of CAS. Using HS allows CAS to be fully characterised with regard to duration, mean frequency, and intensity. Further, the high temporal and frequency resolutions, and the high concentrations of energy of this improved version of HS, allow CAS to be more accurately characterised with our HS than by using spectrogram, which has been the most widely used technique for CAS analysis. Our approach to RS analysis was put into clinical practice by launching two studies in the Pulmonary Function Testing Laboratory of the Germans Trias i Pujol University Hospital for assessing pulmonary function in patients with unilateral phrenic paralysis (UPP), and bronchodilator response (BDR) in patients with asthma. RS and airflow signals were recorded in 10 patients with UPP, 50 patients with asthma, and 20 healthy participants. The analysis of RS intensity–airflow curves proved to be a successful method to detect UPP, since we found significant differences between these curves at the posterior base of the lungs in all patients whereas no differences were found in the healthy participants. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study that uses a quantitative analysis of RS for assessing UPP. Regarding asthma, we found appreciable changes in the RS intensity–airflow curves and CAS features after bronchodilation in patients with negative BDR in spirometry. Therefore, we suggest that the combined analysis of RS intensity–airflow curves and CAS features—including number, duration, mean frequency, and intensity—seems to be a promising technique for assessing BDR and improving the stratification of BDR levels, particularly among patients with negative BDR in spirometry. The novel approach to RS analysis developed in this thesis provides a sensitive tool to obtain objective and complementary information about pulmonary function in a simple and non-invasive way. Together with spirometry, this approach to RS analysis could have a direct clinical application for improving the assessment of pulmonary function in patients with respiratory diseases.Los sonidos respiratorios (SR) se generan con el paso del flujo de aire a través de las vías respiratorias y se transmiten de forma no homogénea hasta la superficie torácica. Dada su naturaleza mecánica, los SR se ven afectados en gran medida por enfermedades que alteran las propiedades mecánicas del sistema respiratorio. Por lo tanto, los SR proporcionan información clínica relevante sobre la estructura y el funcionamiento del sistema respiratorio. La falta de una metodología estándar para el registro y procesado de los SR ha dado lugar a la aparición de diferentes estrategias de análisis de SR con ciertas limitaciones metodológicas que podrían haber restringido el potencial y el uso de esta técnica en la práctica clínica (medidas con pocos sensores, flujos no controlados o constantes y/o maniobras forzadas, análisis no combinado de distintos tipos de SR o uso de técnicas poco precisas para el procesado de los SR). En esta tesis proponemos un método innovador e integrado de análisis de SR que incluye el registro multicanal de SR mediante un máximo de cinco micrófonos colocados sobre la tráquea yla superficie torácica, los cuales permiten analizar los SR en las principales regiones pulmonares sin utilizar un número elevado de sensores . Nuestro método también incluye una maniobra respiratoria progresiva con flujo variable que permite analizar los SR en función del flujo respiratorio. También proponemos el análisis combinado de los SR normales y los sonidos adventicios continuos (SAC), mediante las curvas intensidad-flujo y un espectro de Hilbert (EH) adaptado a las características de los SR, respectivamente. El EH propuesto representa un avance importante en el análisis de los SAC, pues permite su completa caracterización en términos de duración, frecuencia media e intensidad. Además, la alta resolución temporal y frecuencial y la alta concentración de energía de esta versión mejorada del EH permiten caracterizar los SAC de forma más precisa que utilizando el espectrograma, el cual ha sido la técnica más utilizada para el análisis de SAC en estudios previos. Nuestro método de análisis de SR se trasladó a la práctica clínica a través de dos estudios que se iniciaron en el laboratorio de pruebas funcionales del hospital Germans Trias i Pujol, para la evaluación de la función pulmonar en pacientes con parálisis frénica unilateral (PFU) y la respuesta broncodilatadora (RBD) en pacientes con asma. Las señales de SR y flujo respiratorio se registraron en 10 pacientes con PFU, 50 pacientes con asma y 20 controles sanos. El análisis de las curvas intensidad-flujo resultó ser un método apropiado para detectar la PFU , pues encontramos diferencias significativas entre las curvas intensidad-flujo de las bases posteriores de los pulmones en todos los pacientes , mientras que en los controles sanos no encontramos diferencias significativas. Hasta donde sabemos, este es el primer estudio que utiliza el análisis cuantitativo de los SR para evaluar la PFU. En cuanto al asma, encontramos cambios relevantes en las curvas intensidad-flujo yen las características de los SAC tras la broncodilatación en pacientes con RBD negativa en la espirometría. Por lo tanto, sugerimos que el análisis combinado de las curvas intensidad-flujo y las características de los SAC, incluyendo número, duración, frecuencia media e intensidad, es una técnica prometedora para la evaluación de la RBD y la mejora en la estratificación de los distintos niveles de RBD, especialmente en pacientes con RBD negativa en la espirometría. El método innovador de análisis de SR que se propone en esta tesis proporciona una nueva herramienta con una alta sensibilidad para obtener información objetiva y complementaria sobre la función pulmonar de una forma sencilla y no invasiva. Junto con la espirometría, este método puede tener una aplicación clínica directa en la mejora de la evaluación de la función pulmonar en pacientes con enfermedades respiratoriasAward-winningPostprint (published version

A Study of trellis coded quantization for image compression

Trellis coded quantization has recently evolved as a powerful quantization technique in the world of lossy image compression. The aim of this thesis is to investigate the potential of trellis coded quantization in conjunction with two of the most popular image transforms today; the discrete cosine transform and the discrete wavelet trans form. Trellis coded quantization is compared with traditional scalar quantization. The 4-state and the 8-state trellis coded quantizers are compared in an attempt to come up with a quantifiable difference in their performances. The use of pdf-optimized quantizers for trellis coded quantization is also studied. Results for the simulations performed on two gray-scale images at an uncoded bit rate of 0.48 bits/pixel are presented by way of reconstructed images and the respective peak signal-to-noise ratios. It is evident from the results obtained that trellis coded quantization outperforms scalar quantization in both the discrete cosine transform and the discrete wavelet transform domains. The reconstructed images suggest that there does not seem to be any considerable gain in going from a 4-state to a 8-state trellis coded quantizer. Results also suggest that considerable gain can be had by employing pdf-optimized quantizers for trellis coded quantization instead of uniform quantizers

Layer Selection in Progressive Transmission of Motion-Compensated JPEG2000 Video

MCJ2K (Motion-Compensated JPEG2000) is a video codec based on MCTF (Motion- Compensated Temporal Filtering) and J2K (JPEG2000). MCTF analyzes a sequence of images, generating a collection of temporal sub-bands, which are compressed with J2K. The R/D (Rate-Distortion) performance in MCJ2K is better than the MJ2K (Motion JPEG2000) extension, especially if there is a high level of temporal redundancy. MCJ2K codestreams can be served by standard JPIP (J2K Interactive Protocol) servers, thanks to the use of only J2K standard file formats. In bandwidth-constrained scenarios, an important issue in MCJ2K is determining the amount of data of each temporal sub-band that must be transmitted to maximize the quality of the reconstructions at the client side. To solve this problem, we have proposed two rate-allocation algorithms which provide reconstructions that are progressive in quality. The first, OSLA (Optimized Sub-band Layers Allocation), determines the best progression of quality layers, but is computationally expensive. The second, ESLA (Estimated-Slope sub-band Layers Allocation), is sub-optimal in most cases, but much faster and more convenient for real-time streaming scenarios. An experimental comparison shows that even when a straightforward motion compensation scheme is used, the R/D performance of MCJ2K competitive is compared not only to MJ2K, but also with respect to other standard scalable video codecs

Evaluation of digital image compression algorithms for use on lap top computers

A technique for the evaluation of image compression algorithms was developed. This technique was then applied in the evaluation of six image compression algorithms (ARIDPCM, ISO/JPEG DCT, zonal DCT, proprietary wavelet, proprietary sub-band coding and the proprietary DCT). Of the six algorithms evaluated, the Wavelet algorithm performed the best on average in image quality at all bit rates. The JPEG DCT was concluded to be the most useful algorithm because of its performance and the advantages that come with being an international standard